"People will feel more confident to share their ideas and communicate their views when they know their voice will be listened to."
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy have known each other for two decades. The award-winning CEO and Australia’s foremost strategic life coach have collaborated to create a roadmap for high-performance living with a strong foundation of leadership, health, wellbeing and self-care practices to excel for the long term.
Both in their 50s, the women are at the top of their game, having forged enviable careers while raising families and maintaining peak fitness and now work with leaders at some of the nation’s leading brands, including Seek, Mercedes-Benz, Deloitte, AMP, NAB and Mirvac.
Now, the dynamic duo has decided to work together for the first time, devising The Masterplan to equip high-performing leaders with a masterplan for life and an action plan for future success.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?
All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE
Table of Contents
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: There is one thing I know to be true: In uncertain and unpredictable times the leaders who navigate with purpose, passion, humility and focus and on their people’s health and well-being. The leaders that have instilled strong values in their organisations, create environments of collaboration and trust will be the ones that will not only survive but thrive during these challenging times.
Courage is what distinguishes great leaders from mediocre ones, especially in challenging times. Courageous leaders are willing to climb over obstacles, take risks, walk into the darkness, do what’s difficult and sometimes even attempt the seemingly impossible, particularly when times are full of uncertainty. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the ability to overcome fear.
Courageous leaders give everyone the confidence to believe in themselves and their abilities and forge a path forward that inspires others to follow even in the most uncertain times.
During uncertainty it is important to be mindful, be intentional and be kind to your team — and yourself That is our message for everyone wanting to thrive.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy:
Colleen: One of the biggest mistakes businesses make during difficult times is waste a lot of time and energy focused on the things they can’t control. We need to focus our attention on the things we can control and the way we lead, and we have the opportunity to do this through every action, reaction, interaction and decision we make. People want to follow a leader that is calm and confident and keeps everyone focusses and connected in difficult and uncertain times.
Shannah: Common mistakes seen are people’s inability to accept, navigate and adapt to change quickly. As humans, we seem to take a long time to change our ways, stop, reset, refocus and create a new plan. Also, businesses trying to do everything themselves without outsourcing expert help and not understanding their finances properly as they grow and evolve.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: We both know the importance of investing in a long-term life and action plan that covers three key pillars: Your Life Plan, Your Leadership Style and Your Longevity Plan for long-term success.
During the lockdowns of 2021, we decided to work together for the first time, devising The Masterplan to equip high performing leaders with a masterplan for life and an action plan for future success.
With our combined knowledge we have sat down and cherry picked the most practical high performance topics and skills to master for life. We wanted a bespoke, unique and powerful program for your whole self – to achieve excellence in life personally and professionally. In a day you have a completed workbook and action plan road mapping your next 20 years of success.
There are three pillars – Life, Leadership and Longevity.
- Life – Self Awareness – Committing to owning your life – is at the base of high performance and is where we always start when working with people
- Leadership – Self Leadership – Committing to being a leader of influence – is about leading yourself before you can lead anyone else. Showing up as the best possible version of yourself
- Longevity – Self Management – Committing to fulfillment and longevity in life – is about self-care, avoiding burnout and finding fulfillment in life finishing with how to celebrate our wins along the way
We feel this in the ultimate skill set – all put together holistically, practically and taught in its simplest and truest form.
Quite simply, we designed The Masterplan program to reset, refocus, refuel and re-energise. The duo agree that leadership needs redefining, and many of us need a new plan and roadmap to get there that provides real clarity, real purpose and a new direction for the future.
The one-day fully immersive program will help business leaders and their employees, build new confidence and create a clear vision that will take them from where they are now to where they want to be. The program covers the key themes of self-awareness, self-leadership and self-management.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: During uncertain times like Covid has meant, one of the most important things for a leader is to stay connected with theirs teams and their people, and keep their teams connected to each other. We always want everyone to feel confident to bring up questions or concerns whether that be by picking up the phone or emailing you.
It is important that people feel supported and safe and that remains for 2022 and beyond.
We have been focused on ensuring our clients feel connected and stay agile even if we have had to operate more in a tech-focused, work from home state in the last few years.
As a leader, sharing your vision is essential to inspire those around you and encourage them to focus on what matters most, what you want to accomplish and how you intend to get there, particularly in uncertain times.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: More of this will be part of the day-to-day or BAU work, but also the rising return to face to face events which we really love attending and speaking at locally and globally as travel becomes more of the norm again too.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: Every day is different and we always do walking meetings where we can as well as regular exercise so we can feel mentally and physically fit.
We may spend a whole day in the office like many people do, then the next day be on a stage, key note speaking in front of 1000 people or taking a group on a hike.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: Humanity matters. Being personable, approachable and human is more important now than ever before.
We always say how important open honest conversations are, to share from leaders to staff openly how they are feeling and be truly present. When leaders act in this way in cascades throughout the organisation.
Ensuring you have open lines of communication that are available to everyone in the organisation, not just top tier management.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: Obstacles and challenges are part of business. Knowing how to invite conversation which can unlock new ideas and different way of thinking and working can be a challenge for some executives. A leader’s job is not only to inspire others but to create an environment where people inspire each other through conversions and actions.
Great leaders give everyone a voice and create a platform for two-way conversations when problem solving. People will feel more confident to share their ideas and communicate their views when they know their voice will be listened to.
We want to help drive more problem-solving that doesn’t just come from top and how that creates growth for everyone.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: We love all kinds of learning and we both have 30-year careers in corporate and leadership so getting any new knowledge is always welcome.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: The great resignation as well quiet quitting are big trends. This is a big reason why so many companies are having us run The Masterplan for their people. Life is more than our careers or businesses, and we know burnout is rife. We have both experienced that feeling and know how to reset.
That is why we have created the ultimate program to re-engage and retain employees in our post-pandemic world. It’s best suited for leaders who understand the power of a strategic plan and measurable goals, creating a high-performance planning day unlike any other for their teams.
This one-day fully immersive process introduces participants to the building blocks for success and longevity both personally and professionally. It combines their knowledge, cherry-picking the most practical high-performance topics to build a bespoke and powerful program to enable others to achieve excellence in all aspects of their life.
We look at Life, Leadership and Longevity.
In essence, The Masterplan highlights the fact that life has a way of providing you with the very best opportunities when you create your personal future road map.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy: The ability to predict the future!
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy:
Colleen: Leadership is one life impacting another in a positive way and that is what I want to do everyday.
Shannah: Where my focus goes my energy flows. That is my mantra.
Jerome Knyszewski, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy for taking the time to do this interview and share their knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Colleen Callander and Shannah Kennedy or their company, you can do it through their Linkedin: Colleen / Shannah
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
